[olingern]

I'm currently on one. Was very burnt out from high stress environments and not practicing enough self care for the past five years. I experienced daily bouts of mild to intense anxiety despite being what most people interpret as a calm person. Reasoning, I was laid off and decided to not take a job.

I took unemployment.

Positive benefits: I mellowed out, started having more patience, and could see how a big source of burnout was how attached my ego was to my work.

I started working on a link shortener a couple of months ago. Despite it being a hobby project that a lot of folks undertake, building something resilient that is somewhat well-designed is a lot of work. Biggest benefit: I started looking at programming as more of something that I'm capable of instead of my self worth / value on display in pull requests.

> Did you return to your old job?

Nope.

> Would you have done anything differently?

More routine. It's liberating to be able to do what you want, as you want, but I would posit that a majority of humans thrive on routines.

> Is there anything bad out of the sabbatical that you didn't expect?

Friends and family being concerned for my well-being despite my spirits being much higher